Reports: Explosion at Iran's Fordow nuclear bunker

Intelligence experts have claimed that there has been a large explosion at Iran's 'impenetrable' nuclear site in the past few days

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Over the past few days, speculation has arisen regarding a reported explosion at Iran's Fordow nuclear site.

It was reported earlier this week by Iran defector Reza Khalili that an explosion at Fordow, one of Iran's most secret nuclear sites, had destroyed half the installation and trapped around 240 personnel underground. Reports as of this time, are still unconfirmed.

The site has become a centre for Iran’s nuclear activity due to the 2,700 centrifuges enriching uranium to the 20 percent level. A further enrichment to weapons grade would take only weeks, experts say.

The conservative website, WND reports: "According to a source in the security forces protecting Fordow, an explosion on Monday at 11:30 a.m. Tehran time rocked the site, which is buried deep under a mountain and immune not only to airstrikes but to most bunker-buster bombs. The report of the blast came via Hamidreza Zakeri, formerly with the Islamic regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and National Security."

Iran security services are reported to have shut down an area of around 15 miles in radius, around the site.

A day after the explosion, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad apparently convened an urgent meeting with senior intelligence and security officials to discuss the blast, the report said.

When sked about the story, Avi Dichter, a former head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, said, “Any explosion in Iran that doesn’t hurt people but hurts its assets is welcome.”

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 TV, Mohammad Reza Heydari, the former Iranian consul in Oslo who resigned and obtained political asylum there three years ago, said that ”If Iran is given more time, it will acquire the knowledge necessary to build a nuclear bomb within a year.” Asked whether it would use the bomb against Israel, he said: “If Iran gets to the point where it has an atomic bomb, it will certainly use it, against Israel or any other [enemy] country.”